1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a child car seat.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a child car seat structured such that an orientation with respect to a longitudinal direction of a vehicle can be changed by turning a seat main body, there is known a child car seat provided with a base fixed to a seat of the vehicle via a seat belt, and a seat main body connected to the base via a seat turning mechanism and a reclining mechanism (refer, for example, to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-100760). The base may be called a pedestal, a cradle, a base plate and the like, however, in any case, the conventional base is only used as a base portion for fixing the child car seat to the seat, and for mounting fixed side parts of the turning mechanism and the reclining mechanism in the seat main body. There is no prior art in which the base itself includes a movable portion for applying a turning motion to the seat main body.
Further, as a device for fixing the base to the seat of the vehicle, there is known a belt fixing apparatus for fixing the seat belt and the base to each other by clamping the seat belt of the vehicle between a pair of cam-shaped members having unevenness on a surface thereof, and regulating the motion of the cam-shaped member in such a manner as to allow the seat belt to pass through in a fastening direction and prevent the seat belt from passing through in an opposite direction (a loosening direction) (refer, for example, to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-120617).
However, in the child car seat in which the seat turning mechanism and the reclining mechanism are respectively provided between the base and the seat main body, it is necessary that both the mechanisms are provided in a limited space with no interference, and a great restriction exists in view of design, so that a structure of the connection portion between the base and the seat main body is complicated.
Further, in the child car seat in which the seat main body can be turned, the restraint condition of the child car seat with respect to the seat changes in correspondence to the orientation of the seat main body. In other words, in the case that the seat main body is set in a front-facing posture, since a back portion of the seat main body extends along a seat back of the seat of the vehicle, it is possible to bring the child car seat into contact with the seat back of the vehicle along a comparatively wide range so as to achieve a stable condition. However, in the case of setting the seat main body in a rear-facing posture, since a front end of the seat main body opposes to the seat back, there is a risk that the contact range between the child car seat and the seat back of the seat becomes narrower than that in the front-facing posture.
In order to prevent the disadvantage mentioned above, there is a case that a rod-shaped member extending upward along the seat back is mounted as an additional part to th base. However, it is troublesome to mount the additional part mentioned above, and it is necessary to carefully store after being demounted, so that this structure is troublesome.
Further, in a so-called baby seat used for an infant, in which the seat main body can be used as a carry by being demounted from the base, the same problem as mentioned above arises in the case that the base is provided with the additional part in the same manner so as to expand the contact range with the seat back of the seat in the vehicle.
Further, the belt fixing apparatus used in the conventional child car seat can clamp the seat belt only in one direction. On the other hand, in the vehicle provided with a general three-point seat belt, a direction in which a shoulder belt is fastened (a storing direction) is opposite between the case that the child car seat is placed in a right seat and the case that the child car seat is placed in a left seat. Accordingly, in the child car seat described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-120617 mentioned above, two belt fixing apparatuses are mounted to one seat belt in such a manner that the clamping directions thereof are opposite to each other.
However, in the case that a single child car seat is provided with a plurality of belt fixing apparatuses, the number of the parts and the assembling man-hour are increased, thus a cost increase is caused. A space required for arranging the belt fixing apparatuses is expanded, and a restriction in view of design is increased. In the case that the child car seat is mounted only to either of right and left sides, one belt fixing apparatus is wasted.